You play Luther Johnson, a Black Mesa scientist on the day Gordon Freeman’s Experiment goes wrong.
Explore the area and get the bad news.
Then do what you have to do to escape.
This was June 2021’s Classic of the Month mod.
Basic Details
- Title: Life’s End
- File Name: hl1-sp-lifes-end.7z
- Original File Name: lifesend_fixed.zip
- Size : 14.2MB
- Author: Daniel Squire
- Date Released: 10 June 2005
PlanetPhillip Download Servers
Installation Instructions
- Copy the LifesEnd folder into your Half-Life folder.
- Restart or start Steam.
- Life’s End should now be listed in your Library tab.
If you require more help, please visit the Help page.
Playthrough Videos
The playthrough below is part of the Classic of the Month Event, run by Don AKA Unq.
Screenshots
Click on the thumbnails below to open a 1024 pixel wide image.
WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.
Reader Recommendations
Total Downloads
-
6,744Overall
-
1Today
-
7Last 7 days
-
25Last 30 days
-
343365 days
Meta Review Data
Statistics based on 9 comment(s) with meta review data.
Installed:
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 9 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 3 Hours, 48 Mins
Shortest: 1 Hours by yagnos
Longest: 7 Hours by Loulimi
Total Time Played: 34 Hours, 15 Mins
Using Gauge: Users
Manually: 9 Users
Time Taken:
Average: 3 Hours, 48 Mins
Shortest: 1 Hours by yagnos
Longest: 7 Hours by Loulimi
Total Time Played: 34 Hours, 15 Mins
Tags (?)
Collections (?)
If you believe this release is missing important tags, please suggest them in a comment?
Special Events
Jump to a review
An excellent mod! It looks good and kept me interested enough to keep playing through the end.
This is my favourite half-life mod of all time. I loved the hallucinations, they were hilarious! Just don’t run it with the hi-def pack or you get dancing zombies like the one seen at the following link…
http://www.planethalflife.com/potd/index.asp?id=510477
Pls help! Stuck with Barney in a ware-house after I aquired TNT (it’s no shown in any weapons class though). I have to blow something but what and how?
Thank you
@Serge: the entrance to the abandoned tunnel behind the memorial. Just walk up to it and you’ll automatically place the TNT.
2 Passerbywhoplayshalflife
Thank U. 😉
On Level 25 when the “Big Boss” attacks-how do you kill him???? I hide where the elevator is and when he comes to the door I shoot him but am wondering how much ammo I have to unload into him???? Also, is this the last level????
Thank you,
Druidhealer
Killed the behemoth and now on Level 29 with the Lazers and how does one get through this??????? As per previous post I see that 25 was not the last one and wonder how many levels there are????Please help…..
Druidhealer
Hi, does anyone know the author of this mod and is there a website for the mod? Anyway great mod.
-Al
The author’s name is in the basic details section, or did you mean does anybody known him personally?
I looked for a homepgae but couldn’t find one. Perhaps there is a link in the read me. I am away from my home PC, so I can’t check.
Note
I played this mod and Cleaner’s Adventures around the same time, so I may have gotten some bits mixed up. Sorry if this is the case, and please tell me as soon as possible and I’ll edit it out. Thanks.
Gameplay:
The mod has quite a bit of variety throughout with some humorous moments. You, again, travel through the Black Mesa incident again as a different scientist. However, instead of all the action taking place in the main Black Mesa areas, you get to visit the old areas of the facility and even walk around in a hallucination which was a hilarious moment. The mod has been put together well, with a lot of jokes throughout and some great ideas that keep the whole thing an enjoyable moment. The action is pretty easy with a few tough spots but it was all rather good, nothing too frustrating about it. The dark areas were quite creepy, especially when a Headcrab jumps at you when you least expect them to be there. I like the idea of finding and collecting large batteries to do certain things around a few levels, it was funny seeing them as well.
Design:
Nothing too special in this area, as everything was kept within the Black Mesa style with an average level of detail. Some rooms lacked good detailed while most felt atmospheric, especially the old part of the facility which kept it immersive to explore. The design of the first hallucination area was quite original, some weird construction that I found was well though out. Lighting is the same as the structure; nothing too special to comment on, only that is was good with no overuse of any coloured lights.
Conclusion:
Another Black Mesa theme mod with a bit more variety and fun gameplay.
Rating: 76%
thank you for looking into it and all your hard work.
I just got done playing this mod, quite long and I thought very good! I only got stuck in a couple of places (elevators)other than that no problems!! Download problem at FilePlanet, over 40min wait, at FileCloud got right thru!! Phillip the files unrar’d fine, no corruption on this end! I use WinRar instead of WinZip with less problems! To #11 kingDaniel “ya got a good mod!!” and that’s from an old Grey Gamer
just finished, was a great mod and had a great time playing.
One of the most fun non-retail HL mods I’ve ever played.
Definately worth a download.
I just can’t get enough of this mod, I’ve played it through 5 times now (2 times on hard!). So Kingdaniel, are there any other mods or maps you have made as I love your style.
Thanks for all your comments! I’m working on a follow-up for HL2 but it’s a long, long, long way from being finished.
An very funny map-pack with original ideas and funny moments. The maps are pretty decent, with well chossen textures.
I recommend this to any Half Life fan, no matter you are a hardcore one or not. It’s simply enjoyable.
4/5
This mod is – simply put – funny as hell. Even if you don’t typically play spoof mods, you should make an exception for this one.
Where to begin? Nothing is safe from the author’s tour de force of parody, subtle, and not-so-subtle humor… from the sylized flying saucer and bug-eyed aliens, to hilarious safety posters, to gas-induced hallucinations, to machines powered by giant Duracells. This mod had me laughing out loud at several points. Comedic value aside, Life’s End has some excellent mapping and a solid storyline… some of my personal favorite locales are a teleportation-gone-wrong that teleports most of a building onto a bleak Xen asteroid, the caved-in Sector E, and the excellent if bizarre architecture you traverse while trippin” on toxic gas. This mod’s one downfall is that, aside from the few truly eye-popping maps, much of the game environment becomes dull and repetitive fairly quickly… the author seems to fall into a rut in which he uses the same basic textures and architectural features over and over again throughout each distinct area. Still, definitely play this mod… but keep several pairs of fresh undergarments on hand. It’s really that funny.
just finished this mod again ,4th time over the years,PLAY IT
played this last time at work and I must say any bosses would be impressed! I would like to see this on the hl2
I found something quite interesting in this mod – there appears to have been a training level planned that was obviously never finished or was scrapped.
This was in titles.txt:
LE_TRAINING1
{
Congratulations! You can read!
To re-read a note, simply “use” it again
(default “E’).
A few helpful notes are left around
Life’s End.
Don’t worry if you suck at reading fast,
just press “Pause'(default “PAUSE BREAK’).
}
LE_TRAINING2
{
First, let’s see if you remember how to “crouch-jump’.
Once you reach the other side, “use” the note to read it.
}
LE_TRAINING_END
{
Hurrah! You have completed this very short training level.
Now play Life’s End! (on HARD diffculty!)
}
TESTMAP2
{
In Life’s End, unlike Half-Life, there are tonnes of
locked doors which require Security key-cards.
Open the door by first getting the card then pressing
the “use” key over the card slot next to the door.
}
TESTMAP3
{
There are also padlocks on some doors, which require keys.
}
TESTSTART
{
Welcome to the Life’s End Training Course.
Read the note on the table by standing over
it and pressing the “use” key.
}
Quite interesting I think…
Oh, and by the way…
!
Did you see if the maps are there?They maybe in a pak file.
35 maps in pak and none labeled as traing,but that doesn’t mean it’s not there.I’ll check it out later.
There is no training level!
I checked it too – some interesting stuff I didn’t know about, like that injured scientist that obviously didn’t show up in my game for some reason, and the alternate sci’s and gordon.
Excellent mod. Kept me entertained from start to end. Solid story, decent design and layout with adequate combat and puzzle sections.
Yet another view of the Black Mesa mishap, this one from the pov of another scientist (who happens to be an excellent butt-kicker on the side). The game is a nice length, has a good deal of combat, lots of puzzles, and is fairly amusing with some very trippy levels.
No new models or sounds, although I am pleased that most sound clips have had the “Gordon” and “Freeman” edited out. It annoys me when I play a HL game that is supposed to be about a non-Gordon character and I hear a Barney say, “Hello, Gordon”. Meh 🙂
Good up to a point but spoiled by too many box and pipe climbing and stupid jumps.
To get past the laz0rs, take a metal box and put it on the lasers. Then your done, Next, shoot the tripmines before starting the elevator.
Erm…that guy above calling himself ‘daniel Squire” isn’t me. Freaky I.D. Theft at Planetphillip?!
you are right I noticed since ur account on moddb is kingdanial so u are the real one
Be Careful…..!
I forgot to give any real ‘review” , so here it is 🙂
This mod is fantastic from start to finish, with numerous innovations in the engine such as the in-game arcade game, along with customized and new models, sounds and textures, not only is this mod great to play but it’s interactive, involving, humorous and innovative. If you’re going to download and play one HL1 mod this week, make it this one.
That was the best mod. for half-life 1 I ever played realy download it it is the best mod. ever
Best mod!
Pretty long, despite the size of the folder, yet not boring at all, due to variety. But the missions don’t seem to be connected, despite what others might say. Every new portal made me expect an ending, instead, a different mission began.
You play a different character, for a change. Health and ammo are always there for you, some small puzzles make the time go by faster, except the elevator one. There’s plenty of combat, also plenty of walk abouts with some entertaining reading material here and there. I liked the intoxication effect and I wanted to see more of it, liked the unbreakable locks, though some of the keys were quite hard to find. The battery hunt was quite inspired. The laser room was scaaa-ry! Didn’t appreciate the turned crosses. The only connection with the title was the so long awaited ending with some actual aliens instead of the alien creatures we were used to.
Nice new textures (really cool lava) and redone speech (nice touch with the CS style “Go, go, go!”). Mapping was ok, but the lighting needs rethinking, especially the lights under the desks, with no apparent source.
You can see there was a lot of work and many ideas involved, too bad one huge thing is missing: a solid story. And that’s a pity. Even if it were meant to be a map pack.
Still, it’s different and fun to play, so play it! You won’t be disappointed.
one of the best mods ever made… very funny and interesting
This is a great piece of work with some nice touches, but ultimately I felt it too long and unfocused.
The start is done well and it certainly feels like Black Mesa. There are some interesting scripted sections and play of action. This took me 3 hours to play through and I felt I was rushing (mainly so I could post it).
There are some funny scenes with Star Trek and hallucinations pieces, which are kinda cool.
If this were have the size, with less silly additions and more quality areas I would probably have giv en it a personal favourite.
It’s well worth your time, but I never got really excited at any point.
This mod is definitely worth playing.
I played this mod a long time ago after a few people recommended it to me, I enjoyed it then and I really enjoyed it now. This is one of the very few mods that seemed to go on for too long but was still enjoyable for me. I was glad when it finished however as I was pretty tired at the end. This mod uses humor, which is nice too see now and again, and as far as I’m aware is only the second mod in the 100SDoN with it in, the other being Radix.
I thought this mod was too easy and there were very few areas that I struggled. There are a good array of enemies, but I feel they overused the Alien Grunts a little too much. There were a few puzzles in the mix too, the majority based around finding keycards to open doors or finding batteries to start something or other. There were a few hallucination parts too and personally one of the reasons I loved this mod so much. There is even a Star Trek part which was a nice change in setting. Also look on the top of the cabinet when your in the room with the scientist when it starts to go wrong.
There were some downsides however. The length of it was one, the repetitiveness of it was another. There was one part where you can get stuck if you go through a teleporter wrong, and it took me three times to get it right. Also the ending was very poor.
I really enjoyed this, and it’s worth playing.
Oh now this is what I’d call a superb mod!
Definitely a personal fave!
While I did have a few godmode moments and a couple spots where I just couldn’t reach without noclipping, the overall quality of this mod stands out above pretty much all other HL1 maps and packs that I’ve ever played.
The humor was fun, a little weird in places but I thought the Trek and other assorted goofy stuff was still reasonably well done. I did have a problem after saving in one of those sections, had to play through a bit to re-reach the right level trigger.
The textures were awesome, the use of existing audio and speech was exceptional. The mapping itself was also quite good, though I didn’t like the numerous backtracks that’s something that wasn’t enough of an issue to make me think less of the mod.
It’s true the ending was a little weird, but whatever, it was still able to captivate me for a good bunch of hours, make me smile, and thank the dev of it for having made such a fun mod. 😀
A very good mod that could easily been split into two, but well worth your time as its all about game play!
I often find that long mods get tedious very quickly, but not this one, throughout I always wanted to see what happened next and how I could beat it. I can’t really say I noticed to much of the look of this as it was all about playing the game and to me that’s how it should be, but what I did see looked fine.
So many mods in the 100 so far that are much shorter have offered little in the way of fun, this however was fun for at least 90% of the time. The use of having to find so many key cards became a little trying at times but at least it wasn’t like finding melons (cough! Migga!) and finding the over sized Duracell’s was funny the first time, BUT!
I’ve never expected any mod to be perfect, but with the exception of a few point’s this is one of the best so far of the 100. For me this was refreshing in the fact the author was not afraid to use humour, because it seems others take themselves way to seriously.
I have had to give this one a lot of thought how I rate it, I rarely give a PF but this is definitely better than a PIN as it was a few hours of fun.
I’m tented to give this a personal fav. recomendation, and the only reason i’m not putting this in the top of the pops is because I maybe have to replay it in order to know if really this must be at the best mods for HL1, I played it like 4 years ago or more, and I don’t have bad memories of it at all, iu mean defenetly is a good mod that’s worhty to play it, and it is because takes luther as the main character, I remember is funy and entreteining mod, but I am puting this and Brave brain mod in the awaiting list to replay them, I am conssidering replay, just because I usually don’t replay anything, but most likley just because the 100 DoN are briniging back this awsome mods back i’ll surelly do it, I mean not right away but soon in these days…..
Another pretty solid big Black Mesa style mod. This one stands out for its quirkiness and humor, but its own length drags it down a bit. And it’s entirely too easy, I suggest ramping up the difficulty you select for this pack.
Overall this mod shines with quality. There’s solid mapping, good layout, decent textures, and a wide variety of weapons and enemies (though little real challenge). The only bugs I encountered was getting stuck in a ladder during a level change, and some weird model poses due to my using the HD model pack. And it looks like the rappelling grunts never triggered in the big ramp room, perhaps since I jumped down a bit instead of just walking around the ramps. I of course appreciated the humor which is rare to see in HL mods, although sometimes I thought things were a little silly.
What didn’t I like? I thought the first hallucination was clever, but I thought the longer second Star Trek themed one was kind of silly (as is the arcade game to get a key). Most of the puzzles were find-the-keycard although there’s also the collect-the-giant-duracells as well. In general it’s clear where to go, and there’s not too much backtracking or vent crawling thankfully.
Overall I felt that Life’s End kind of went on too long. Some areas were repetitive but thankfully never mazelike, but did end up boring me a little. I think some careful editing could shave this pack into a tighter more enjoyable experience. As it stands now it’s worth playing and fairly polished, there are a couple of new ideas, but in general it goes on too long and is way too easy.
what do you mean “Overall I felt that Life’s End kind of went on too long.”?
This is not hard to do in less than 45 minutes……
What I mean is: too much filler, not enough meat. That’s great that you can do a speedrun in 45 minutes, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t go on too long for my taste.
This was really great. I loved the hallucination episodes and the star trek bit. I remember playing that part before but I don’t remember the rest of this mod. Lots of ammo and health throughout, and there was never a situation where I though the difficulty level was unreasonable.
This one really starts like another weekday at Black Mesa. We play as mathematician Luther Johnson who works in sector K. Exploration of the place before disaster is welcome. The big disaster happens, but then it becomes small, when the really big one follows.
The mod has many very pleasant scenes: Xen ground grows in the labs, excellent first meeting of G-man. We enter the room with dead scientists and zombies, and then zombies get up and attack. We meet the scientist who killed the soldiers with a shotgun; “What did you do?!” – “You have no idea what’s going on!”; Barney breaks the pipe and then… I need to stop spoiling the fun right now. There are many other original and interesting events. Constant search for items is done very well, it doesn’t feel boring and repetitive.
Despite the bland design, it manages to show believable Black Mesa, and that’s excellent, because there are many mods which promise to move us there, but never keep that promise. What’s also great is that the in other mods where we don’t play as Freeman, everyone still call us Freeman, but here this doesn’t happen.
I loved this…excellent mod, but had to give up on the bit where you have to save the scientist against the re-spawning zombies…it was just too hard for me…might try again another day…but for now, I’ve given up.
I’m really impressed by this and want to finish, however can I get some help please?
How do I deal with the laser corridor of doom, some call it a recreation of the Resident Evil movie (that I haven’t seen) – Level 29?
With some good jumping/crouching, you can avoid all the lasers until the last one, which is a crosshatch pattern. I think you just have to wait until the last possible moment, and if I recall correctly the lasers shut off before they get you.
well, it is also possible to go through the lasers without harm if you get enough speed, just like all HL lasers, you can go throught tripmine’s lasers without triggering them, you can go through turret’s lasers without triggering them, etc. but it is useless since it wont be faster (you need to wait for the door anyway) so, just a alternate way of doing it, LIKE A BOSS XD
Yes, I think that’s right. Just move as far back as possible.
Thanks guys!
The mod starts out like a usually Black Mesa mod but it’s done really well and has some funny humor to it.The mapping and textures were done well,but nothing really special.The combat was solid without being unfair or too hard.Now which makes this Black Mesa mod different from others was the hallucination bits,where one had you in a episode of Star Trek.Now the biggest flaw for me had to be the ending which just felt like the mapper got bored and just decided to end it.Overall it’s worth a playthrough.
One of my favorites.
Just finished it, well.. I’m speechless.. this is like Half Life 1.5 to me!
Such a great story and level design, gameplay.. everything’s just right and well-produced in here! This is in my top 3 of HL1 SP mods now.. much respect to the author!
Pro’s:
-Long playtime
-It doesn’t feel like “just” a mod, it’s a whole game!
-Humour and many other funny things are placed everywhere, watch out!
-Notes with usable (and/or funny) information, brilliant!
-Gorgeous level design, detailed with many textures – most excellent
-Superb gameplay, rarely clippling bugs (just reload the autosave or quickload)
-Fair-placed enemies, some surprising beams but also many weapons & ammo
-Atmosphere cause of the scientists, notes, level design etc.
-It never gets boring, you never get stuck – just think(!) from time to time 😉
Con’s:
-lol ?
-Okay, as I’m addicted now, I want more, but I guess there won’t be more Mr. Squire !?!?
Last words: THIS MOD IS EPIC, GO PLAY IT IMMEDIATELY !
This mod is AWESOME!!!!!!
Great gameplay, humor is really cool because it doesnt interfere with the game. I played this mod at least 20 times, even made a speedrun of it, btw KingDaniel, did you know that the first hallucination could be entirely skipped? the huge metal door’s button can be pressed from the “parking” (where there is grunts and a jeep) so the first hallucination is optional XD
I also skipped some parts with grenades while I speedrunned, but overall less glitches than the original game soooo, this is not good when speedrunning, but this clearly shows your mapping skill. The mod had one MAJOR problem, there were no problem that implied breaking a rule written on the wall, unlike the game, it’s expansions and many mods. just kidding, there were no major problem, except maybe the orientation of the maps, it happened a lot of times that after the loading, I was facing a different direction, whch meant the maps where not aligned correctly, but if you dont try to speedrun, it doesnt matter
5 stars, personal favorite, and btw, arent your barneys a little too strong? they hit metal doors and some metal walls and they juste break like that? my RPG should be able to at least break what a barney’s punch can break…..
PS: the playtime is kinda short, 29min 11 seconds….
just kidding, without speedrunning this was about 3-4 hours, perfect for a good mod like this, when is Life’s End 2 coming?
This mod does NOT take itself seriously.
[spoiler]Drug hallucinations, death by b-movie aliens, star trek dream[/spoiler]
If you took the weird and funny moments away, this mod is.. still pretty good. Not very clever enemy placement at the beginning (not like in ETC, ETC2, Azure Sheep), but later there’s non-linear levels and creative scripted sequences plus the absolute mindf*ckery of the whole thing. On top of all this, it doesn’t add any new weapons, enemies, or anything besides occasional textures and sprites, so this is one impressive mod. Definitely one of the greats.
How do you get out of the elevator on level 8?
after the part in which we see gordon freeman, it gives an error, even if the next map opens, I am in walls like the cheat “noclip’. How can I fix this? ( I also installed steam’s fix in .rar)
This mod was great fun; I really enjoyed it. The hallucination scenes were a weird mix with the rest of the game, and seem like they might have been better as their own separate mod, but they were good at breaking up the combat with puzzles and kept everything interesting.
In some senses, I found that the mod was a little repetitive. There were countless instances of “Find the keycard” or “Find the batteries” and it just made the whole mod less continuously original than it could have been.
I also felt the difficulty balancing was great throughout; at some points, the combat was really easy and there was excessive health everywhere for only fighting headcrabs, and at other points, it was very spaced out, and the battles were incredibly difficult. Perhaps more consistency in this regard could have made it more enjoyable.
I also felt the quality seemed to diminish near the end; some of the puzzles were not intuitive at all (a vent underneath and elevator?? and I still don’t know how to solve the laser one.) The ending was also pretty weird and unfitting. Perhaps a shorter mod would have been better?
The direction of the mod being almost entirely in text was a bit annoying, as reading big paragraphs can detract from the experience, but it is understandable as integrating voice acting can be hard, and instructions were necessary for some of the great complex level designs.
Having said all this though, I did enjoy the mod a lot and there were some really great scenes that I really enjoyed, such as protecting the scientist from infinitely spawning alien slaves while he powered up a laser. With a few refinements, this could have been one of the best HL mods out there. As it stands, it is still really fun and deserves a shot by any half-life fan!
Life’s End comes to us from new mapper Daniel Squire, making this a first release for him. Get ready for the bad news, right? Well as it turns out, Life’s End is not a bad map pack at all. In fact, considering it’s a first release, it’s somewhat of a sleeper hit. Yes, even in 2006 when the HLSP scene has become old and tired. Probably the best compliment that I can give the map pack is that parts of it reminded me of the old memorable classics Peaces Like Us and Redemption. For those who played those two classics, that is high praise indeed. So you might ask, what is it about this unit that makes it comparable to those two?
There’s an overall sense of quirkiness that just flavors the whole thing and makes it unique. There’s the odd bit of humor (one of the screenshots provides a glimpse) and some of the levels are just inventively designed, that recalls those memorable parts from the venerable Peaces Like Us. Lest I spoil these parts, I’ll just say some of them involve being in outer space or being in a cage match with an opponent (yes you read that right!). These parts are just laugh-out-loud funny or so weird you have to wonder what the author was on. In terms of the Redemption similarities, some of the more crazy bits just end up being wacked-out detours, making them feel like an adventure within the adventure, like the aforementioned outer-space part. Or getting to actually play the game on a video-game machine. It’s just trippy stuff. The great thing is that if the quirkiness was all that this unit had going for it, it’d be worth playing for that alone.
But of course it doesn’t rely on its tricks and it actually provides the HL goods too. It’s mostly your standard battery of HL-style scenery that we’ve seen so much of over the years. The office settings, labs, warehouses, etc. Underground areas too, and parking lots (complete with a Porsche, hah!), some brief outdoor parts. That’s the first half. The second half breaks out the atypical stuff – Lambda Core-style labs (not too many units use the Lambda Core textures for some reason), Xen-style space areas (but no use of the annoying Xen aliens for these parts thankfully), truly wacked-out space-type voids, and a starship. It’s all very unique stuff, but of course, it’s also a detriment – there’s a huge sense of overall inconsistency. The settings are too varied, it feels like a mish-mash. It doesn’t detract from gameplay though. At least level design is usually inspired. Some of the areas are noticeably deficient in their design (overly simplistic, too boxy, etc) but these moments aren’t very frequent. Most players probably won’t even notice. What most people will notice is the attention to make things interesting. Attempt duly noted – there’s really never a visually-boring moment that takes you out of the game.
As far as the gameplay goes, it’s the standard HL style there too. Marines and aliens, complete with a pair of female assassins. Pretty much every HL enemy is here. Including the old Xen Masters. And ole Gargy too – you can’t forget that old friend either! And even an icthyosaur. Yup, they’re all here. Even those adorable houndeyes. Even the baby headcrabs! This author really spared no expense in pulling out something with all your old favorites. The only ones that aren’t here are ol’ Gonarch and those dastardly Tentacles, and who can blame the author for that?
The only major bones that can be picked against this map pack are that it tries to do too much for its own good, and the story doesn’t hold it together very well. And it has a depressing ending too. But really, what else would you expect from something with a title of “Life’s End”? The good news is that Life’s End is a certifiable “sleeper hit” of sorts – it’s the best HLSP release to come along in quite a while and as already mentioned, will probably make veteran HLSP players nostalgic for Peaces Like Us and Redemption. And it’s a lengthy unit too. Expect a good 4-5 hours of playtime. If you haven’t played this yet, get to it!
Notes
This review is republished here by permission and was originally published Sunday, 27th August, 2006 by Calyst.
This review was originally posted on the Ten Four Website, which is now offline. Permission has been granted to republish the full review and more details can be found on the About page.
Stuck in the elevator. Any tips out there?
Hey Jesse, which elevator? Could you please tell me the number of a screenshot above where it is, or is near? I’ll help you then!
I found out about this mod thanks to an article about the sequel over at LmabdaGeneration. I’m not usually a fan of HL1 mods, since I usually find them to be extremely dated or with bad gameplay. However I must say I really enjoyed this one.
Lide’s End takes a tonuge-in-cheek approach to the Black Mesa incident, with lots of humour spread throughout the maps. In addition to the standard BM style areas, we are also treated to the surreal hallucinations which help to add some variety. There are many enjoyable scripted scenes and set-pieces. The gameplay is good, with combat and some puzzles. I’m usually not a fan of key card puzzles, but they were done well by this mod.
Ironically, one of the mod’s problems is that it is too long. What I mean is that there is quite a lot of repetition of areas and at certain points the level design becomes bland and uninspired. Also the “wackiness” of the mod goes overboard at the ending. There is no final boss battle or even particular challenge to the end. It just sort of stops with a “time machine” which takes us to a random area where we die, and then inexplicably appear in some kind of prison. I felt disappointed by this conclusion and I think a better ending would have given this mod a PIN rating.
That said it is worth your time, and I will certainly play the sequel.
Manually
Easy
3 Hours
Only minor problem was getting one of the keys from an arcade machine while playing a maze! Out of character from the other areas of the game; luv the star trek bit and the weird dreams.
Manually
Easy
5 Hours, 20 Minutes
PLAY THIS MOD RIGHT NOW!
The story is that you play as Luther, a man that works in Black Mesa. Though, unfortunately the accident happens and Luther is found alone and confused. The goal is to survive from Black Mesa at all costs.
The combat was just great; nothing else to say here.
The texture placement was some of the best I’ve ever seen and to accomplish that on the GoldSrc engine, that says a lot.
Seriously, I can’t wait for more. PLAY THIS RIGHT NOW!
This mod isn’t perfect, its main problem being some problems with the gameplay, a complete lack of voice acting, and a beginning not original and even quite boring sometimes. At this stage, it was a mod okay, but then, from a little after the middle of the game, it becomes interesting. It still suffers from gameplay problem, a mapping Black Mesa sometimes boring, but it also adds a lot of original elements, scenes and places that we didn’t see in any HL1 mods before! The twist at the end is very well realized, even when we think we guessed the end we didn’t! Some improvements to do, but still, a very good mod!
Manually
Hard
7 Hours
Considering this is from 2005, graphically not too impressive. Combat is mostly easy, drug hallucinations didn’t do much for me. Apart from that, the usual crate jumping, security pass searching etc., but not too much I haven’t seen before. Also I feel this mod is a few maps too long and needs more variety. Ending is meh, too. After so many PF and PIN ratings, I really expected much more.
Manually
Medium
4 Hours, 10 Minutes
I love this mod for it’s great level design and interesting gameplay ideas, the acid trip sequences are great!
Manually
Medium
4 Hours
Life’s End follows a mathematician Luther Johnson, one of the multiple unfortunate sods who wind up in Black Mesa during the Resonance Cascade.
The story of Life’s End is filled with some humorous and weird set pieces, especially the ending. I think the idea could really be used more, there were only 3 sequences of these. It also has some interesting gameplay parts, like when you have to shoot the tripmines above an elevator as it was going up.
I think the combat felt too easy at times because the mod constantly feeds you with chargers. But it is reversed at the end, where some supplies could have helped. That said there are two times I think the mod has some issue in level design. I could never figure out if I was supposed to fight or run from the Gargantuar and there is nothing to heal you from the damage afterward. The second generator room at the end of the mod has you walking through a glass hallway that breaks quite easily, it was frustrating to jump across with all the enemies below. I also feel like the keycard and battery collecting was used a bit too much.
Although, with that in mind, Life’s End is still worth playing. It is quirky and has some fun gameplay in it. You can also get some laughs out of it too.
Manually
Medium
3 Hours, 30 Minutes
Awesome mod! The mixture of normal HL1 feeling & surreal scenes & space & minigame (ex. maze) & alien is very interesting. The mod is very long but the mixture of various concepts and well-designed maps prevent the player from being bored. I really enjoyed this mod!
Manually
Medium
3 Hours
Impressive mod, it’s detailed and has fair combats and weird stuff.
This would’ve been my favorite mod if only this is perfect. Unfortunately, there are some things I don’t like in this one. There are many random stuffs along the mod and the Star Trek part really got me. As a Trekkie, that part made me give this mod many plus points on it. Now as I said that there are many random stuffs along the mod, I just find some them unnecessary to the story, kind of like a waste of time. The ending is also a little bit anticlimactic for me. Not only that, you could break the cutscene while triggering the ending. Just figure out how to kill the vortigaunt.
Well, I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy it. Especially since it had some funny moments, but I find it overall lacking. Maps weren’t that bad, but also weren’t the best I have seen either. Gameplay wise, it had a couple of fun moments with the Marines, but nothing more than that.
Also I CAN’T GET OVER IT HOW SOME OF THE VENDING MACHINES WORKED AND HOW SOME DIDN’T. I HATE THAT SO MUCH! Like damn, that’s just maybe my OCD, I don’t know, but I just can’t get over that kind of inconsistency. It doesn’t affect rating that much, I just wanted to mention that.
Overall, it was kinda fun, but I found it pretty mediocre considering other things than those funny and surreal moments, which, if creator put a bit more effort into, would’ve made this mod a masterpiece. But in a state like this, I would recommend playing a ton of other mods before this.
Manually
Hard
3 Hours, 15 Minutes
cant say it was bad.
Manually
Easy
1 Hour